


Sam! Dean!

by amusawale



Series: A Different Type of Apocalypse [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers apocalypse, But different, M/M, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21527878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amusawale/pseuds/amusawale
Summary: It's stressful when half the world disappears without explanation.
Relationships: Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester
Series: A Different Type of Apocalypse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1526972
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	1. I Don't Feel Well Mr. Stark

Sam shot up in bed, his bosom heaving, the blood thick in his veins with the fear that was still moving sluggishly through him. He kicked off the sheet and was out of the door before he could think. He ran down the corridor and burst through Dean’s door like a hurricane.

It was extremely anticlimactic to find his brother lying supine on his bed, clearly unharmed. He took a step toward Dean and suddenly there was a gun pointed at his face.

Sam made a loud sound of surprise.

“Oh. It’s you.” Dean flopped back down on the bed, eyes closed.

Sam was still breathing hard.

He looked around at the stark room; the most personal things were the array of guns on display, his box of busty Asian beauties and the tiny photograph of Dean with their mother. Sam was glued to the spot. He could not move.

“C’n I hep you wi’ something S’m?” Dean murmured mostly into his pillow.

Sam did not know how to tell his hunter of a brother that he had dreamed that he woke up and Dean too, had disappeared like half the population had. How could he tell Dean that Sam was afraid to be away from him just in case? It was juvenile. Childish. He had long ago lost the right to demand reassurance from his brother.

Yet he just could not make his legs move.

Dean slowly sat up, and stared at Sam. “Bad dream?” he asked softly as if Sam still was that four-year-old boy who’d burrowed against Dean for comfort. Sam nodded, letting his hair fall forward to hide his eyes.

“and you wanna sleep in my bed.”

It wasn’t a question.

It wasn’t said teasingly or derisively.

It was said the same way Dean had always said it. Matter of fact. Sam was too ashamed to nod. But he was too weak to leave.

“Come here.” The covering was moved and Dean made space for him in the bed. Sam only hesitated one more moment before climbing into the bed with relief. Fifteen years of declaring his independence, of claiming his own life…and it was all ground to dust in the space of one dream.


	2. Truth Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So the apocalypse is upon them. What do Winchesters do?

Sam woke up to an empty bed and his heart dropped right to his shoes. He shot up to a sitting position, a shout already on his lips.

"Dean!"

There was no answer and the cavernous halls of the underground bunker seemed to echo with his loneliness and fear. He scrambled out of bed, his mind a litany of ' _no no no no no no no no no not my brother no no no no_!' and ran out of the room, careering from corridor to corridor until he came out at the humongous library. Dean was leaning over the table, packing a duffle bag with guns and other supplies. Sam leaned against the archway, all the strength going out of his legs.

"I thought you-...I thought," he breathed his bosom heaving, hands shaking with the remnants of adrenalin and fear.

Dean didn't look up from his task.

"Mornin' Sammy," he said as he continued fitting guns into the bag.

"Wha-, whe-" Sammy could hardly finish a sentence he was so out of breath.

Finally, Dean looked up, a fake grin on his face. "I gotta go out, reconnaissance. You stay here, where it's safe. I'll be back soon."

" _No_!" the word exploded out of Sam and it was all he could do not to leap forward and clutch Dean by the arm, keep him by Sam's side by force, "W-we, we can't separate."

Dean narrowed his eyes at him. "Look, Sam, whatever took place and disappeared all those people, I think it's pretty much over now. I just have to find out how bad it is and what can be done about it. This is my job, Sam. I'm a hunter."

"No, I know that. I just meant that...I'm coming with you."

Dean's eyes narrowed further, and he bit his lip as he studied Sam. "I mean I appreciate the concern but no. You'd be nothing but a liability on a hunt. You've done nothing but sit behind a desk for fifteen years."  
Sam was inclined to dispute that. He'd kept up with weapons training. Kept himself fit. Just because he was out of the family business didn't mean he didn't know that the supernatural existed. He kept stores of salt and silver bullets, holy water...just in case. He wasn't completely useless. He was surprised that it hurt him to think that Dean thought he was.

"You're right, I have been behind a desk. I can still do research. I can still watch your back."

"No."

Sam ground his teeth. "You think...Benny would like you to be out there on your own? You think _dad_ would?"

"How dare you? How dare you speak his name as if you gave a rat's ass about him, or me? C'mon Sammy, I know why you're here and not home with your little blonde wife and your preppy friends. Protection. You figure I'm a better bet than they are huh? I mean, Sam, I knew you were cold-blooded but to turn your back on your wife without a backward glance?" he shook his head and whistled. "You're a real savage. But I can't rely on you to watch my back and I can't be worried about watching your _and_ my own back. So you're staying here."

Dean might as well have punched a hole through his chest and pulled his heart out. It would have hurt less.

_Is that what you really think of me?_

Sam looked around, his chest still heaving with exertion. Okay so maybe he wasn't as fit as he could be...and maybe he'd chosen Dean over Jess, but it didn't feel like he'd had a choice. It was, go or stay, and he could not bring himself to go. Just like he could not bring himself to let Dean walk out without him. 

But he really _should_ call Jess. He knew he was a slithering coward for not having done it already.

His hand shot out and grabbed the duffle and then he began walking toward the garage.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

He turned, looking Dean in the eye. "I get that you don't trust me, but you're stuck with me. So deal with it. I am going...with."


	3. tête-à-tête

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean head out.

The car ride was quiet; a bit tense. Not just because of their exchange before they left the house, but also what they saw as they drove from town to town.

Emptiness, despair and desperation. 

Sam reached out, closing his fingers around Dean's arm and holding on tight.

"The reason I am with you and not her is that I cannot make myself leave you. I cannot stand the thought that you could disappear and I would never even know it. There wouldn't be a body to bury, no way to bring you back. You'd just...cease to exist. And I would never know."

Dean snorted. "I could have died any time in the last fifteen years and you wouldn't have known. Why is it such a big deal now?"

Sam looked out the window, although his grip on Dean didn't loosen. "It was no secret that I hero-worshipped you as a child, was it? If there was one thing Sam Winchester was known for, it was his absolute certainty that his brother Dean was infallible. Unconquerable. A larger than life hero in a lonely boy's life."

Dean flicked him a disbelieving glance. "Who even talks like that?"

"It would not have occurred to that boy," Sam continued, ignoring him, "That any harm could befall that Dean Winchester. So yeah, fifteen years of assuming that that Dean Winchester continued to thrive is quite different than seeing people disappear right in front of you and not knowing if your brother might be taken. Because if this is the rapture, Dean, I'm pretty sure we're not destined to go to the same place."

Dean barked out a laugh. "The rapture? When did you get superstitious Sammy?"

Sam shrugged, "Jess' family has some pretty conservative beliefs."

"Yeah, I got that when I saw you were running as a republican." the contempt in Dean's voice was obvious. Sam closed his eyes and sighed, his fingers tightening on Dean's.

"Sometimes...you get into this rut, and it's like a ditch. A deep one. To get out of it, would take a lot of effort and maybe...it doesn't seem like there is anything to get out for..."

"Sometimes, you just do it for yourself, Sam."

His lips twisted. "Myself? She was the only family I had, Dean. If you bother to remember, Dad told me not to come back. So I was what? Meant to just be alone?"

"You had me, Sam."

"Did I? Then why did I never hear from you, Dean?"

"That question goes both ways."

"I was self-absorbed, I admit it. An asshole even. But I was also a teenager. What's your excuse, Dean? Why'd you just let me go."

"You wanted out."

"I wanted out of the _life_. Not my family!"

"Hunting's the family business. How do you separate one from the other?"

Sam just shook his head, looking away. "And that's why I stayed away."

There was a long tense silence as they left Kansas and headed towards Missouri.

"So you're not even going to call her?"

Sam sighed. "What could I possibly say?"


	4. World News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean's first encounter with the remnants of humanity.

They stopped in a small town at the edge of Kansas City, reluctant to see what had happened in such a highly populated place without some preparation, some warning. Just off the highway, was a no-tell motel named Hot Tub Paradise, seemingly deserted except for an old school El Dorado parked on the third spot in front of an open room door. There was a maid cart parked two doors away from that but no humans that they could see. Sam turned to Dean and he looked back at his brother. 

They blinked at each other, electric tension bleeding between them like a slow wound, both reluctant to step outside and truly understand that whatever had happened was more widespread than them.

Dean gave a laugh like a rusty pipe coughing, as he turned away from Sam. "You know it's ironic. Usually, when there's an apocalypse, I'm usually smack, in the middle of it. This one kind of came out of left field."

Sam frowned at him. "You get in the middle of many apocalypses?"

Dean flicked him a glance. "You have no idea."

"Weird. We didn't get the news in California."

"I'm sure you were there for the east-west coast tsunami chains."

"Yeah, that was crazy. And Trump keeps denying climate change." Sam shook his head ruefully. "We had to evacuate."

"Oh, you had to evacuate? Tragic."

Sam narrowed his eyes. "I guess it was more than just climate change."

Dean snorted. "I'm not sure climate change _isn't_ more than climate change."

Sam took a deep breath. "So are we going to sit here while you pick an argument or are we gonna go in?"

Dean gave him a side-eye and a smirk. "We're gonna sit here while I pick an argument."

Sam opened his door, "Okay then. You do that. I'm gonna go." he stepped out of the car, slammed the door deliberately hard behind him and stalked towards the office. He was unsurprised to hear Dean's footsteps following close behind. He inhaled deeply, trying to be discreet about it so that Dean would not see how scared shitless he was. Probably a lost cause. Dean wasn't interested in Sam's feelings.

He pushed open the door and then jumped a bit at the honey gold eyes peering at him from below the counter. They were wide and scared, surrounded by an excess of freckles, a button nose poking just above the level of the counter and a mop of black shiny hair. The eyes blinked, watching him fixedly.

"H-hello?" he said tentatively. He stumbled as Dean shoved him out of the way from behind and stepped into the lobby, planting himself in front of Sam, shielding him from whatever threat was ahead. Sam didn't know how he felt about that. On one hand, Dean apparently thought he was lower than the mucus on the scum of a pond. On the other hand, he couldn't seem to stop himself from protecting Sam. 

_What does it mean?_

_Why am I more worried about that then what we are about to find?_

"Whoa," Dean's voice was quiet but the way he reared back let Sam know he'd seen the kid. "Hey there, what's your name?" 

The kid just blinked at them.

Dean took a step forward, his eyes on the kid the whole time.

"Where's your mother?" Sam stepped to the side so he was standing beside Dean rather than behind him.

The kid just blinked.

"Umm, hey so are you renting out rooms?" Dean put his hand on the counter and peered over it so he could see the rest of the kid. "You on duty?"

The unnaturally large eyes just continued to blink at them.

"I don't think he's gonna say a word, Dean." Sam murmured softly.

"No shit," Dean replied in the same tone. "Hey kid," he continued in a louder voice, "We're just gonna..." he waved his hand about, "Look around."

he stepped away from the counter and deeper into the lobby, keeping an eye out for movement, as he reached into his back pocket and drew out his silver gun. Sam copied him, extracting his own borrowed gun from his belt. They searched the place the way their father had taught them; quadrant by quadrant, making sure they covered every inch of the place.

Sam turned his head and almost squealed with surprise. The eyes were apparently attached to a little boy, who was standing right behind them, still watching. He must have followed them, and so quietly not even Dean heard him.

"D-Dean?" Sam murmured, trying to move his lips as little as possible as if that might help the boy not to hear him.

"What?"

"Look."

Dean finally turned to give him an irritated glance before his eye fell on the kid and he gave a shout of surprise. "Whoa, kid!"

The boy just kept standing there, staring at them.

"You think we're the first people he's seen in a while?" Sam asked.

"People? You're assuming he's human then?"

Sam turned to frown at Dean, "What else could he be?"

Dean shrugged. "You haven't touched him. He could be a ghost, or a shapeshifter, changeling..."

"Okay...then why haven't you checked him?"

Dean shrugged, "He ain't hurting anyone. And don't you think we have bigger fish to fry?"

Sam decided to keep his mouth shut and one eye on the kid at all times. They came to the end of the corridor without meeting a single person.

"Maybe he's the only one left here."

"Mmm."

"Are...shall we get a room?"

"Yeah, I say we pick one." he raised his voice, "And if the kid wants to sign us in, he can just say so."

Dean crossed to the door on the opposite side, near the fire escape, removed a lockpicker from his pocket and proceeded to unlock it. Sam kept one eye on the kid, one eyebrow raised. Dean got the door open with a faint, "Yahtzee," before turning to Sam. "You want your own room?"

"Hell no!" Sam pushed his way into Dean's room just in case his brother had any ideas about separating them. It was bad enough in the bunker, he was not about to let Dean out of his sight in this creepy graveyard of a town.


	5. Creepy Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kid isn't going anywhere.

"Sam?"

Sam jerked with startlement. He'd thought that Dean was asleep. "Huh?"

"You're thinking real loud and the staring is just creepy."

Sam looked away. He had a hard time sleeping in the new place especially with the strange kid lurking somewhere and he didn't want to take his eyes off Dean...just in case. One never knew. 

"I'm not going anywhere."

Sam almost jumped again. 

_Does Dean read minds now?_

"I-I know that."

"Okay then, why are you staring at me as if you can keep me here by the power of your mind alone?"

Sam turned away from him, not saying a word. His shoulders were tense though. He didn't like having Dean out of his sight. There was a loud sigh behind him. "You wanna maybe share my bed?"

"It's barely a queen size," Sam said even as his heart sped up with hope.

"You want to or not?" Dean was never one for the bullshit.

Sam got up off his bed and crossed silently over to Dean's bed. His brother was already holding down the cover for him so he slipped between the sheets without further ado. Dean reached for him, tucking him securely under his arm, just like he used to do when they were kids. Sam heaved a sigh of relief and finally relaxed.

Dean sighed as if in resignation. "I missed this...missed you." His voice was very quiet like a secret or a shameful confession. Sam swallowed the lump in his throat. 

"I missed you too Dean."

***

The kid was sitting across from their doorway when Sam opened the door the next morning, head lolling forward in sleep. Sam stared at him, really taking in the ragged clothes, his bare feet, the dirty hair and thin body. 

"Shit," he murmured to himself knowing full well they couldn't just leave the kid. He took a loud step into the corridor and the kid jerked, eyes flying open to stare up at him. He squatted down and stared back.

"What's your deal kid? What are you doing here all alone?"

Much to Sam's surprise, the kid shrugged. 

"You...don't know?"

The kid nodded.

"Umm...well, what's your name?"

The kid just blinked at him.

"Can you not speak?"

The kid shrugged again.

"Well, at least we know you understand me."

Blink, blink.

Sam got to his feet and turned to see if Dean was still asleep. He shouted in surprise to find his brother a few feet behind him. "Whoa dude, make some noise when you move why don't you?"

Dean grinned, taking a step closer. "Why? Startling you is so much more fun."

Sam huffed and turned back to the kid before Dean could see how his smile made Sam feel. "Uh...so he's uh...he doesn't know what he's doing here and apparently can't talk."

"Yeah, I saw."

"What do we uh...what...?"

Dean shook his head. "C'mon Sam, you ain't been gone long enough to forget what we do with strays."

"There's no one to take him to. Or if there is, he's not saying."

Dean stepped out past Sam and squatted by the kid, smirking into his eyes. "So kid, you wanna come with us?"

"Dean..." Sam did not think this was a good idea.

Dean looked the kid up and down. "We have a bunker full of food and plenty of space.If you want, you can stay with us for a while just until we figure this shit out. You want to?"

The kid nodded. Dean shook his head. "I guess no one taught you about stranger danger huh?" 

He got to his feet and turned to Sam, eyes sombre. "He's coming with."

Sam knew better than to argue. But his gut churned with anxiety. This could go so pear-shaped on them. 

He sighed with resignation. "Yeah okay."


	6. Dean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The apocalypse came out of left field and found Dean unprepared. After all these years of dodging it, here it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had to just post this the first time coz my uber came and I hadn't saved it anywhere else. Hence the update.

Dean didn't know what he was doing. His mind was churning and spinning, confused and scared. Of course, he kept his game face on. Couldn't let Sammy see how spun out he was. Especially considering how freaked out his brother already was.

Half the world had disappeared...for other people. But Dean's world was still whole and hale and right there with him. 

Sometimes he couldn't believe it.

Fifteen years of dodging one apocalypse after another, losing everyone who ever meant anything to him...all to keep this one person safe. And here he was, at the end of the world, clinging to Dean as if he were the only person that mattered.

Dean needed to find out what happened and if it was in any way related to Sam. But he had no clue where to start. 

When Sam had first come looking for him, Dean's heart had leapt with hope. He didn't even know what he was hoping for. He was just...so glad to see his brother. So tall and healthy, clear-eyed and focused. No sign of the all-pervading anger that Dean remembered too well from Sam's teenage years.

No. Now there was just maturity and calm.

Also utter douchebaggery. 

His Sam, the passionate crusader with a mission was missing. In his place was a republican drone going through the motions. It was disappointing. Dean felt as if he'd wasted his life.

But Sam just kept returning. Kept looking for something. What he wanted, Dean couldn't give him but the fact that Sam was still looking was heartening.

It didn't help the disappointment though.

That was the easiest emotion to display. He could hide his fear and his love and his protective anxiety but he did not, at least, have to hide his disappointment in the man Sam had become. 

But really, in the bigger scheme of things, in light of the apocalypse, what did it matter? Sam was with him and now they'd acquired a mute passenger in the back seat. Dean had done the tests but who knew whether the boy was human or not?

Dean had no idea. There were no parameters to this new thing that had happened, no sign of Angels or Devils. The only thing he knew for sure was the Crowley was still looking for Sam, which meant his brother was involved somehow.

_Should I make him go back to his tepid republican life? Is he safer away from me?_

His eyes caught the boy's in the back seat. Big dark eyes, just staring unblinkingly at Dean. Something told him the boy was no innocent. It was no accident that they'd found him. The question remained, was it for good or ill.

Sam sucked in a long, irritated breath and Dean had to conceal a smile. He wondered which bitch face his brother was currently wearing. He hadn't looked at him once since they got in the car. He knew exactly what Sam was thinking and he couldn't exactly say the man was wrong.

"Hey, Dean?"

He wondered if he could get away with ignoring Sam.

"Dean!"

Sam never was good at being ignored.

"What?"

Sam just widened his eyes at him, clearly expecting Dean to read the conversation he wanted to have in them. Dean thought about acting like he had no clue what Sam was saying but his brother's hand closed on his arm and squeezed. Apparently, Sam was expecting that trick.

"He's a clue," Dean said shortly.

"What? A clue for what?"

Dean looked at Sam, narrowed his eyes and then flicked them back towards the kid.

 _You wanna have this conversation while he's listening_? 

Sam sighed petulantly but subsided with a huff, sinking back into his seat.

 _God help me, but it's good to have you back_.


	7. Home Alone or Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has some things to sort out for himself.

Sam was not at all resentful of a little kid. 

_He wasn't._

But was it really necessary for Dean to escort him to the showers? To wait outside, a change of clothes in hand? Where he'd even gotten a shirt small enough to fit the kid was anybody's guess. Furthermore, the kid had yet to say a word, so for all they knew, they were harbouring a monster.

Sam had been out of the monster-hunting business for fifteen years true, but that didn't mean he didn't recognize danger when he saw it. 

And that kid was definitely dangerous.

He stopped pacing around the library with a curse. "Fuck him anyway," he growled angrily as he went to his own designated room. He stepped into it, slamming the door behind him and leaned against it, breathing hard as if he'd been running.

He looked around the room and suddenly he felt as if he could not breathe. The room was kind of tomb-like now that he had a proper look at it without his mind being on something else. Stepping away from the door, he whirled around and opened it. He snatched the towel behind the door and marched to the washroom. 

There were enough showers in there that he could have one too. He swept past Dean without a word, entering the room without knocking. He heard Dean make a sound of protest behind him but ignored him. The kid was standing in the shower stall nearest the wall, the door open as he rubbed soap on his skin. He turned around as Sam bundled into the room, eyes wide and scared.

Sam ignored him and proceeded to take his own clothes off before stepping in the shower furthest from the boy. He drew the curtain closed before putting on the water. He was startled when the curtain was drawn back with some violence.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Dean hissed.

"Taking a shower." he tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"You couldn't wait ten minutes for the kid to be done?"

"Why? Does he turn into a mermaid or something?"

Dean sighed irritably, before drawing the curtain back and walking off. Sam knew he was behaving like a petulant child.

He knew it.

He just could not seem to help himself. He didn't know why he was behaving like such a brat. He knew that instead of bringing Dean closer, it was driving him further away. 

"It's like I'm possessed." He huffed, "What's wrong with me?"


End file.
